there’s Barry in his ripped walking shorts
he’s on Thorazine
is 24
looks 38
lives with his mother in the same
apartment building
and they fight like married folk.
he wears dirty white t-shirts
and every time he gets a new dog
he names him “Brownie.”
he’s like an old woman really.
he’ll see me getting into my Volks.
hey, ya goin’ ta work?”
oh, no Barry, I don’t work. I’m going to
the racetrack.”
yeah?”
he walks over to the car window.
ya heard them last night?”
who?”
them! they were playin’ that shit all night!
couldn’t sleep! they played until one-thirty!
didn’t cha hear ’em?”
no, but I’m in the back, Barry, you’re up
front.”
we live in east Hollywood among the massage parlors,
adult bookstores and the sex film theatres.
yeah,” says Barry. “I don’t know what this neighborhood
is comin’ to! ya know those other people in
the front
unit?”
yes.”
well, I saw through their curtains! and ya know what
they were doin’?”
no, Barry.”
this!” he says and then takes his right forefinger and
pokes it against a vein in his left arm.
really?”
yeah! and if it ain’t that, now we got all these
drunks in the neighborhood!”
look, Barry, I’ve got to get to the racetrack.”
aw’ right. but ya know what happened?”
no, Barry.”
a cop stopped me on my Moped. and guess why?”
speeding?”
no! he claimed I had to have a license to drive a Moped!
that’s stupid! he gave me a ticket! I almost smashed him
in the face!”
oh yeah?”
yeah! I almost smashed him!”
Barry, I’ve got to make the first race.”
how much does it cost you to get in?”
four dollars and twenty-five cents.”
got into the Pomona County Fair for a dollar.”
all right, Barry.”
the motor has been running. I put it into first and pull
out. in the rearview mirror I see him walk
back across the lawn.
Brownie is waiting for him,
wagging his tail.
his mother is inside waiting.
maybe Barry will slam her against the refrigerator
thinking about that cop.
or maybe they’ll play checkers.
find th e Hollywood freeway
then the Pasadena freeway.
life has been tough on Barry:
he’s 24
looks 38
but it all evens out finally:
he’s aged a good many other people
too.
Other works by Charles Bukowski...
